5.1 Speaker Systems

You can't buy a motherboard these days that isn't fully loaded with integrated components ranging from FireWire, RAID and Ethernet controllers through to all-singing, all-dancing, six-channel audio chips. Integration used to be a dirty word among enthusiasts, but the current crop of on-board sound chipsets - such as Nvidia's Soundstorm - are more than capable of delivering high-quality output for games, movies and music.

This, of course, is one of the main reasons why we've rounded up eight 5.1 speaker systems so you can take full advantage of your PC's capabilities. The recent release of Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition is yet another indisputable sign that PCs are migrating from the study or bedroom into the living room. And, if you're going to use your PC as a home entertainment system in addition to its usual activities, it makes sense to equip it with some surround-sound speakers.

Simply looking at the power ratings, cone diameters and frequency response ranges provides little useful information about how a set will sound - the only way to properly evaluate speakers is to listen to them. We listened long and hard, putting each system through a rigorous selection of music tracks, DVD movies as well as surround-sound games. For more details, see how we tested on p76.

Naturally, sound quality is of ultimate importance, but aesthetics, build quality and features can't be ignored either. The best system for you depends on where you want to install it. Systems with wireless remotes, for example, are far more convenient for sofa control than a setup aimed at gamers who will sit directly in front of their PC.

Extra inputs are crucial if you want to connect other devices besides your PC. If your current sound card doesn't support hardware Dolby Digital or DTS, you'll need a set that includes an external decoder - both the Creative Inspire 5.1 GD580s and Logitech Z-680s are happy to oblige.

We realise that not everyone wants their PC to compete with a £4,000 home cinema setup, so we've catered for every budget from £58 to £258. Read on to find out which sets shone and which failed to make the Custom PC grade.

Contributor: Jim Martin

Although assessing sound quality is inevitably subjective, there are plenty of tests that can be carried out on a set of speakers to allow you to accurately compare them. We chose to evaluate three main subjects: DVD movies, games and music.

For the DVD tests, we used both THX and DTS demo discs and played the Podrace sequence from Star Wars: Episode I, the canal chase from Terminator 2 and a medley of clips demonstrating characteristics from speech and laughter to weather effects and explosions. We played several levels in Unreal Tournament 2003 to assess sound positioning as well as LFE (low frequency effects) in explosions and treble from gunshots. We also played a variety of music styles from The Sheffield A2TB Test Disc and other audio CDs covering jazz, pop, classical and guitar-based tracks.

All systems were hooked up to a Terratec DMX 6fire sound card using digital connections for those with the right ports. We used CyberLink PowerDVD to play back DVDs as it's bundled with the 6fire. The test room measured 2.5 x 3.5m and speakers were set up in the corners, with the centre speaker as close to ear level as possible, and the sub placed near a corner for maximum bass.

In order to find out how close the systems came to a dedicated home cinema setup, we visited a demo room fitted with high-quality kit. Armed with our test discs, we listened to two different systems. The first room included an Arcam DV89 DVD player (£1,000), and an Arcam AVR200 DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II Amplifier and Surround Sound Receiver (£800), running through 5.1 Miller & Kreisel K5 speakers (£1,895). The sub included in the M&K set was £695. The rear surround speakers were tripole, with four drivers firing forward, left, right and above. This was termed an entry-level system.

The second system - housed in a concept room - comprised no less than £50,000 of entirely digital equipment, all from Meridian (www.meridian-audio.com). The Meridian 800 DVD player (£10,000) was hooked up to a Meridian 861 Reference Digital Surround Controller, which again cost about £10,000. The digital front speakers were Meridian 7,000 DSPs and would set you back £18,000 for the pair. Two subs were located at the rear of the room as were the rear surround speakers. The entire system was controlled by a Crestron touch screen remote. Our thanks go to Jude Martins at Graham's Hi-Fi (www.grahams.co.uk) for showing us around.